Five of Swords

Meanings according to Rider-Waite:

ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Mars in Scorpio, in its darkest form, as a thirst for destruction and baseness.

FIVE OF SWORDS The Five of Swords is perhaps the most "harmful" card of the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. It signifies the escalation of conflict, a vile scandal, "blows below the belt," baseness and meanness. At the same time, the card does not indicate whether all these harmful actions originate from us ourselves or, on the contrary, whether we have been drawn into this unseemly affair as a victim. Only the other cards of the spread can tell us this. However, in any case the Five of Swords signifies a "Pyrrhic victory," which will not bring joy to the victor for long.

From the book: Hajo Banzhaf. THE TAROT HANDBOOK. Translated from the German by E. Kolesov. Publisher: Center for Astrological Research, 1999.

FIVE OF SWORDS Defeat The first decan of Aquarius from January 20 to 31. Astrological equivalents: Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Scorpio, Aquarius, the Eighth and Tenth Houses. The sign of Aquarius symbolizes the development of thought that brings the hidden to light and tears off all the masks of reality. Emotional penetration into problems develops thought, while the freedom of creativity, which reveals the aspiration of thought, broadens the horizons of the world and makes it clear and luminous. The first decan of Aquarius is ruled by Venus. And this decan symbolizes such qualities as clarity of mind, ease of perception, inventive talents, and... the collision of one's own impulse of thought with life (Venus) — which, naturally, by and large ends in the victory of life and the defeat of thought. However, Venus is, above all, subjective creativity, and therefore creativity in the sphere of art, which does not give a reliable answer to the questions arising in consciousness, yet still creates a foundation for these answers to be found. The FIVE OF SWORDS symbolizes an attempt to break out of the narrow confines of the FOUR OF SWORDS, a departure from the parental home; it desires more perfection and more freedom. This is a clash of inner intentions and thoughts among themselves, which may lead to original conclusions, or may leave one with nothing. The TAROT card depicts three figures: one (the victor) carries three swords, another (in the background) is defeated and weeps, but the third departs undefeated (retaining the right to choose — when to go into battle, and when to retreat). The metaphysical power of the FIVE is directed toward destruction, toward sweeping from the path everything that hinders its movement. The FIVE OF SWORDS is purification, the cutting away of all that is superfluous in attempts to overcome the earthly. It is asceticism and the ascent to the heights through renunciation of the earthly (symbolized by the four).

UPRIGHT POSITION In the upright position, the FIVE OF SWORDS symbolizes: conquest, challenge, destruction of the surrounding environment. The suppression of potential opponents who may rise up; honor (dishonor), victory (defeat), rises (falls), risk (exhaustion), loss, disadvantages, failures, refusal (voluntary or forced), perhaps isolation (voluntary or forced); a change of direction in the path of life, the breaking of one's worldview. The FIVE OF SWORDS is cruel; in its world Saturn rules, and this card resonates with Capricorn and, in some respects perhaps, with Aquarius, causing all the planets expressed in these signs to sound in unison.